New You Challenge - Transformation Spotlight - IDDY

New You Challenge - Transformation Spotlight

After seeing ads for a "6-Wk New You Challenge" I thought I would put one to the test.

For almost all of 2016 I have been back and forth with different weight loss and health plans. I tried everything from trendy diets to gym memberships with little to no results. I usually would start strong on a new plan but after a few weeks it would fizzle out and I would end up back to square one. While looking for new exercises and diets I would come across ads for 6 week programs that would get you into shape with interval training. While I was at first put off with this type of high intensity training I was not getting results from the countless other diets and workouts I had previously done. I decided to give this 6 week challenge a try and here is a week by week of my experiences with the program.

Week 1

I can see why these challenge work for so many people!

After my initial sign up interview I got booked into a class with 15 other people doing the same challenge. The sign up process was very easy. The instructor who did my interview was not pushy and wanted to make sure I was comfortable.

On my first day of the challenge, I was very nervous. It had been over a year since the last time that I had worked out, and I wasn’t sure that my body could handle the intensity. But after I had met the other women (some of them had never worked out a day in their life) I felt much better. The coaches did an amazing job of scaling the workouts individually to each of our fitness levels. For example instead of asking us to do a set amount of air squats, pushups, and sit ups, they told us to do “as many rounds as possible” in 7 minutes of 15 air squats, 10 sit ups, and 5 pushups(from the knees if needed) and to record that number. This was used to set our baseline fitness level. In 7 minutes I finished 2 full rounds + 7 air squats. It was such a relief to get through day 1. The other women were so supportive and motivating.

Days 2-7 were difficult. I was very sore the whole week. The coaches did a great job of keeping my spirits up. They promised that this was the hardest week and that it would only get easier. When I signed up, the coach made me promise that I would not quit before the 6-weeks were over. If I hadn’t made that promise they might have lost me. But I kept my word. So I had to fight through it. I just hoped the coaches were right and that it would get better.

Here is my before photo taken on the first day of my challenge.

Week 2

Learning the fundamental exercises & starting to see improvments.

I was terrified that week 2 would be week 1 all over again. But the coaches were right!! My body started adapting to the workouts and I wasn’t nearly as sore this week. Also the Paleo meal plan (I chose) removes sugar and dairy from your diet. As one of the coaches (Allison) explained to me, your body goes through a detox phase when you suddenly remove all the sugar from your diet (it’s crazy to me that sugar impacts your body in the same way drugs like heroine do). As your body tries to adapt to a diet without sugar, it can make you feel lethargic. But it shouldn’t take more than a week for your body to adapt and your energy levels to return back to normal. This is especially true if you were eating a lot of sugar before the diet.

I was a “sugar addict” prior to eating Paleo. When Allison explained this to me it made perfect sense. I now believe that most of the reason week 1 was so tough for me was this “sugar detox” that I experienced.

But week 2 was so much better. I trained my body to learn most of the fundamental movements (squats, pushups, sit ups, kettle bell swings, jump rope, etc. I’m still having a hard time with dead lifts). The workouts were tough, but I stopped getting that “I’m gonna die” feeling. Allison told me that was a sign that my body was adapting to my new active lifestyle.

The lethargic feeling was gone! In fact, I feel more energetic than I’ve ever felt! And (maybe you can tell from the photo) I’m starting to see a small change in the mirror.

Here is my photo taken before class the 2nd week.

Week 3

Ready, Set, Go!

Week 3 has been the best week so far. The women in my class are incredible. I’ve become close friends with 3 of them and we actually “hang out” on the weekends (which is great because we keep each other accountable when we’re in our “everyday” life and away from the coaches).

Amazingly, NOT 1 WOMEN HAS QUIT! I don’t know why this surprised me so much. I think I just have so many friends that have promised to work out with me and quit after a week or so. The gym did a great job of making every women they selected promise not to quit early. In fact, they told me that they turned down 4 women who had the money and wanted to participate, but that those women wouldn’t promise not to quit. So they turned them away. Having such a motivated group of women is so empowering. I really understand now why they make such a big deal about who they select for this challenge.

I’m also seeing huge improvements in the workouts. During the workouts in the first two weeks, I definitely gave myself lots of time to rest and catch my breath. Allison made me promise to cut some that rest time in week 3. Surprisingly, it hadn’t been difficult. In fact, I think I would’ve done so even if I didn’t promise the coach.

Here is my photo taken before class the 3rd week

Week 4

a small setback, but now it’s FULL STEAM AHEAD!

When one of my new friends from the challenge suggested that we give ourselves one night to cheat on the diet & have some fun, it really did seem like a good idea. After all, we’ve been working so hard for over 3 weeks now.

So I agreed to a night of dinner and dancing with my new girlfriends. We did have a blast, and it would have been fine if it was only a setback for one night. Here’s the problem. Not only did I eat like it was my last meal on death row (who orders dessert after appetizers & Fettuccine Alfredo?!) But we also drank 2 bottles of wine. I was planning on working out the next day to burn off all those calories, but I was so hungover and energy less (when you’re eating clean for a few weeks, it’s amazing how bad “crappy food” makes you feel) that I decided to skip it.

Three days a later I finally made it to my first class of the week. But for the first time since the very first week, I struggled with everything. No matter how long I rested during the workout, I just couldn’t catch my breath. I was so relieved when the workout ended, but then I got really upset with myself and literally started crying in the bathroom stall. I’ve been working so hard for 3 weeks, but I let one bad decision throw off my entire week, and maybe even ruined this entire challenge.

Allison must have heard me crying because she came in and asked me what was going on. She really is the best coach! Within 5 minutes of talking to her I realized how silly I was acting, stopped feeling sorry for myself, and made the commitment to finish the last 2 weeks of this challenge with my best effort & attitude!

I left the gym feeling unstoppable and ready to kick Week 5’s ass!

Even though I had a bad week, I’m starting to see some real changes in my appearance. Check out my Week 4 photo below.

Week 5

“I am a MACHINE!”

Something clicked in my brain from the time that I was crying in the bathroom at the end of week 4, till the first workout of week 5. I definitely credit Allison’s talk for part of it. Some of it was probably triggered by the improvements I’d finally starting seeing in the mirror. And lastly, I think the other women in the class also played a significant role in my attitude and determination, in week 5.

I have never felt so powerful in my life. In Every workout throughout the week, I was setting new “personal records”, finishing before everyone else, and felt amazingly fresh afterward. (I honestly felt like I could have easily started a new workout right after the class.)

I was sleeping great at night, magically waking up (without an alarm) at 5:45 am every morning. Eating healthy food at every meal, kicking ass in the workouts, cheering and supporting my challenge classmates (after I finished the workout to encourage them not to quit), setting strength PR’s, and on top of all that, I even got a raise at work!

Basically what I’m saying is that “I am a MACHINE”

Oh, and take a look at this pic!?! I am sexier now than at any point in my entire life! And I’m almost 40! I cannot wait for week 6 and the final pictures.

Week 6

I’m in the best shape of my Life & Don’t Want it to End!

6 Weeks ago I walked into the first day of this challenge terrified. I was a shy timid girl with very little confidence. I had so much self-doubt that I’d always be telling myself “I can’t do it”. “It” was anything (and everything) that was scary to me.

But for the first time that I can remember, I didn’t quit when it got hard. The coaches (Allison in particular) were incredible. There were a few times (especially in that first week) that I really wanted to quit. But Allison and all the coaches made me feel like they truly cared about me. They believed in me. And so did the other women. I had never been a part of such a special team. We have become so close, so quickly, that it’s crazy to think that they were all strangers just 6 weeks ago.

This challenge has transformed my life in a way that I couldn’t even imagine possible. As I look back and try to figure out how this happened, and why this program worked for me, when so many other diets and training routines I’ve previously tried, failed me, I think I know the answer. I think it was the other women in the class. The “New You” Challenge does such a great job with the application and interview process that I was surrounded by motivated women who promised not to quit, followed the meal plans, supported each other when times got tough, and held each other accountable when a a class was missed, or if effort was lacking. It would have been very easy to let myself down. But I found it much harder to let my fellow challenge ladies down.

On the last day of class, we repeated the workout we did on Day 1 (As many rounds as possible in 7 minutes of 15 air squats, 10 sit ups, and 5 pushups). The first time, I finished 2 rounds & 7 air squats. This time, however, I completed 6 full rounds and 3 air squats!! If there was any doubt that my fitness had improved, there is no more. I lost a total of 32lbs, 6 and half inches on my waist, 3 inches on my arms & 7 inches in my hips

AND LOOK AT MY PHOTO!?! I look great!

I’m just thrilled it doesn’t have to end here. Almost the entire “New You” Challenge class is continuing our fitness journey together at CrossFit Las Vegas. Will normal classes be as special as the classes in the “New You” Challenge? I don’t know. But I sure hope so. Thank you “New You” Challenge, for creating such an incredible program. If you’re reading this review of the “New You” Challenge and you’re still not sure this is for you… DO IT. DON’T QUIT & THANK ME LATER!